When Darkness Falls
by reaper195
Summary: A small pack of soldiers are stuck on Halo with no communications. When they finally decide to move out, they only enter an even worse situation. M for Violence and breif strong Language
1. Clearing Out

Jack Rell crouched behind the lifeboat, hearing the sound of marines on the other side screaming and firing, coloured streams of sizzling energy flying overhead, some slamming into the lifeboat and sending molten steal in a arch around him. The Covenant had seen them before they had crashed onto the ring, and already had been waiting once the lifeboat rattled to a stop. He risked a look around the side, and blood sprayed the side of his face as a marine had a plasma bolt slice trough his chest, his M6D Pistol falling to the ground, just inches from where Jack was cowering, trying to wipe off the blood.

_Dear God, how did I get myself into this_, he asked himself, realizing he was only spreading the blood further over his face. Jack was an engineer, who had more or less no battle skills, at least, not any military. He had spent the beginning of his life living in a very rugged part of Earth, in the East. He had learnt how to use most weapons, and treat minor wounds but his heart had always been the running of ships. He had thrown a huge party when he had been told he would be working with the engine on the _Pillar Of Autumn_.

He was suddenly brought back to reality when a plasma blast blew through the side of the lifeboat, just inches from his head, singeing a few stray hairs on his head.

"Hell!" He yelled, dropping from his knees to the ground, staying flat. The sound of plasma firing was getting stronger, but the sound of automatic, gas-powered rifles were still roaring away.

Since Jack had joined the Navy, he had never seen a Covenant creature up close before, unless looking at one through a telescope counts, until one loomed out from behind a tree not far away from Jack, _behind_ the lifeboat. It wasn't tall, but it wasn't short either. It was wearing a yellow suit; sticking up at the back like it was made of hard metal. The creature was wearing a gas mask, and was carrying a glowing green object in its left hand. Jack recognized it instantly through the squeals it was making, gesturing towards him with both arms. A Grunt with an overcharged Plasma Pistol.

Jack instinctively rolled to the side, moving out from behind the lifeboat and entering the firing range of the Covenant shooting at the marines. The Grunt fired the pistol, the charged bolt melting part of the lifeboat where Jack had been. He reached over, grabbed the pistol, and turned back, towards the Grunt. The Grunt aimed the pistol at Jack, the green charging again. He pulled the trigger, a 12.7 mm bullet covering the distance between the Grunt and the pistol, and slammed into its head, spraying its brains onto the piece of armour behind its head. It fell backwards, the shot going wild. Then two more Grunts came out from behind the trees.

"Dammit." Jack cursed. He turned, and ran around the lifeboat, plasma flying overhead. He sprinted to Sergeant Rae, the current commanding officer.

"Sergeant, we have Covenant getting in behind us!" Jack yelled over the gunfire. Rae stopped for a second and looked at him, sheer hatred in his eyes.

"Right then!" He yelled in his British accent.

"Soldiers! Grab everything you need for a few days hike and get the fuck over to those hills in that direction!" He screamed, pointing towards a set of hills in the designated northeast set just after a large forest. Everyone fired their last few shots, then ran into the lifeboat, grabbing med kits, ammo and anything else they were able to grab.

Sergeant Rae stood outside the door, firing at anything that didn't look remotely human. They had been on the ring for the past two days, constantly being attacked by the covenant, not given a chance to leave the boat and get anywhere. There had been night raids, day raids, Elites in light bending camouflages, and a Ghost attack, which was stopped with two rounds from an M19 SSM Rocket Launcher.

The launcher was grabbed by a marine, Private Chuck MacGilly. The soldiers and Jack then ran out of the lifeboat, Rae screaming harsh, British insults at the Covenant, cutting them down on both sides. Marines were able to fire three or four shots from their MA5B Assault Rifles but not without dropping them from the shots, causing one to stop and pick his up, leaving him vulnerable to be picked off by an Elite armed with a Needler.

The man was literally blown apart, blood splattering the ground around him. Jack's eyes were wide open, his left arm holding the pistol, his other holding onto a box of food, some medical supplies and a few packets of cigarettes, ordered to hold for Sergeant Rae. The Marines ran into the line of trees of the forest, the light slowly dissipating through the leaves.

The squeals of the Grunts, and roars from the Elites were lost behind them, as the men ran through the trees, heading towards the hills in the background. As the men moved forward, a strange mist seemed to settle in, making it hard for them to know which way to go.

"Sarge, where in hell are we?" An Indian, Harij, asked, his arm holding his rifle swinging in every direction. Rae strode over to Harij and pushed him forward slightly, everything in his arms falling to the ground, including the rifle. Rae spun him around and grabbed him by his throat, slamming him against a tree.

"Every time you open your mouth to ask a stupid question, you give our position straight to the five camouflaged Elites around us, who are looking away. Do you understand, marine?" Rae growled, almost inhumanly. Jack looked around, hoping not to see shimmering movements in the mist. However, he did raise his pistol and fire at a black object moving in the distance. It didn't have a specific shape, but it didn't look human. Everyone spun around and faced Jack.

"I saw something!" He cried out, slowly backing away from the direction he had shot in. Rae looked around, Harij picking up his rifle again, as well as everything else he had been carrying.

"Okay, we continue to move towards the hills, then we might be able to find a way to see if anyone else is alive." Rae ordered, after not seeing anything in the distance. The Marines began to move again, moving towards the hills. The mist intensified, and the light continued to diminish. Rae pulled back and walked alongside Jack.

"What did you see?" He asked. Jack thought about the black figure.

"It was a dark shadow. It was big, bigger than a human, but I couldn't see its full shape, just a blur." Jack explained. The sergeant thought for a while.

"And ever since this fog set in, I've been getting this feeling of being watched…from every angle." He added. Rae nodded.

"Don't worry, I've been having the same feeling." He said quietly. All of a sudden, everyone stopped, nearly trampling the man at the front, who stopped first.

"Where's Harij?" The man suddenly called out.


	2. Deafening Silence

Rae shouldered his rifle, looked around and made his way towards the front.

"What the hell is going on, Marine?" He hissed.

"Sir, Harij was standing just next to me. I turned away, looked back and he was gone." The man replied. Before Rae could reply, there was a loud scream. It was distorted, like someone was screaming with something jammed in their throat. Then it changed, to more of a howling, of a wounded animal. Everyone looked around, dropping what they were carrying and looked around.

There was a slight breeze, not enough to remove the mist, but enough to move the trees and the shrubs all around. There was movement everywhere, all the marines moving around, trying to see something to shoot at. Suddenly, there was a loud howling, coming from just a few meters away. A giant black form slowly appeared. All the men turned and ran away from it, a couple turning and firing at the new figure. Rae fired a few shots, and after seeing it jerk around, ad not fall down, he also turned and ran.

The men ran blindly in the mist, the howling filling their ears, the mist blinding their path, and the breeze rustling their flesh. Up ahead, another black thing roamed forward, but it was different, this one was more square, the shape of an inanimate object. As they ran closer, the object sharpened into focus, leaving behind the entrance to a large cave. The men continued to run forward, but Jack slowed down, noticing just how sharp it really was.

The edges weren't curved, like generic formation, but more artificial, like something had built it. The Marines, who were just soldiers, paid to go into war, shoot their guns and most likely die, took no notice of the metallic walls around them, or the mist which was also inside the cave, obscuring anything more than ten meters ahead.

Jack, who was paid to notice things out of the ordinary, almost slowed to a walk, looking at the walls. Rae, who had noticed he was missing, looked back.

"Hurry up, you soppy muppet!" He yelled. Jack, brought back to reality, looked back, and saw shadows moving closer. Screams seemed to fill the air. Different from the other howling. It sounded like it was coming from Covenant troops. Grunts were squealing their little lungs out, and the Elites were all roaring, as if they were trying to scare down an opponent.

The sound of plasma weapons whining rose in the distance, and slowly but surely, the black figures moved away, towards the sound of combat. Jack continued to run after the men, the light almost gone after entering the cave. The marines had stopped, and were looking around, the ones with rifles activating their flashlights

"Hey, Sarge. Where are we?" One of them asked.

"Kowalski, if we ever find out what we're even on…" Rae looked up, and then around, as if he was searching for something specific, his voice straining as he looked around.

"…I'll make sure you're the first one to be told." A few of the Marines laughed, the rest still a bit shaky from the encounter with the things outside, and the disappearance of a soldier. Kowalski continued to also look around, occasionally looking back the way they had entered.

"Sir, I think we should move forward." He suggested. Rae looked around.

"I think you're right." He instantly replied, hearing a howl from outside the cave. The man began to move forward, and as they did, the cave seemed to become a lot smaller and narrower. After a while, it was nothing but a single file corridor. Jack was near the end, Rae at the front, and an Irish Marine at the back.

"So, what are you here for?" The Marine asked.

"What?" Jack responded.

"What were you doing in our escape pod? I thought you guys had your own ones." He asked. Jack chuckled.

"I was rerouted from the others by an explosion, and I continued to run. It was the first lifeboat I saw, so I got in and strapped up." He explained. The two talked about themselves, their experiences on and before the _Pillar Of Autumn_. The two end up on agreeing to watch each others back, as Adam O'Malley gives Jack his pistol clips, saying he lost his pistol on the ship. After fifteen minutes of walking in cramp conditions, they finally exited into a large room.

Not like the huge entrance to the cave, but nig enough to raise an eyebrow at. They were on what looked like a platform, which branched off to two sides, a large gap between them and a hazy light at the end of the room. It was approximately fifty to sixty meters long, and fifteen meters wide. But what made the Marines all stop was the fact that the room was covered in a dark brown haze. And what really got to them was the stench of decay.

It was as if this place had been the subject to body detail for the past few days.

"God dammit." Kowalski cursed.

"Watch it…" Rae growled, swinging his rifle around.

"Don't blaspheme around me, son." The men slowly moved forward into the room, their weapons flying around, the lights barely touching the walls through the thick, disgusting mist. Jack looked up, not able to see the roof.

"Adam, shine your light up there." He said quietly. Adam aimed his rifle up, and revealed a blurry roof. There was something on the ceiling, and it was moving, very slowly.

"What the hell is that?" Adam whispered. Jack looked at it, the object staying where it is, but quivering. It suddenly shook in the middle, sending a ripple effect through the rest of the thing. Without warning, something wet fell on Jack's face. He dropped his pistol and cried out in alarm, reaching for his face. His hands came away with a sticky, green substance on it.

"What the hell's that?" Adam demanded, his rifle aimed at Jack, merely for the light.

"It's some kind of…green…goo." He replied, staring at the stuff, rubbing it between two fingers. He wiped the rest of the stuff off, and then picked up his pistol. Another drop of the stuff fell to the ground, a splattering sound filling the room. The Marines slowly made their way across the room, darting around at every sound. All of a sudden, for no reason at all, Jack had a sudden burst of courage, getting tired of the slow moving. He moved quickly to the front, and up next to Sergeant Rae.

"Sergeant, we need to move faster. I've got a feeling that we're being followed." Jack whispered. Rae nodded.

"I've noticed. Look behind you…slowly." Jack turned his head half ay, his left eye looking towards the entrance of the room. Three black figures were slowly following them.

"Elites?" Jack asked.

"No, something else. Possibly another race of Covenant we haven't seen before." Was the answer. Adam moved up with the other two.

"Sir, we're being followed. Do you want me to toss a grenade?" He asked.

"No, don't let them know we've seen them. And don't tell the other men who haven't noticed." Rae explained. Adam looked back. There were only five men left, including Kowalski. Two of the men were looking back every now and then. They finally made it to the end of the room. Rae looked around the corner and suddenly moved back.

"There's a boy lying in the middle of the next corridor." He whispered. Kowalski moved up,

"Would you like me to check it out, sir?" He asked.

"If you really want to." Rae muttered, nodding his head. Kowalski moved around the corner his light on and rifle raised. Everyone else was around the corner, barely breathing, trying to listen. There was a quiet rustling, a muffled curse, a ringing clatter and then nothing. Silence.

"Kowalski?" Rae called out quietly, barely above a whisper. There was no reply. Rae shrugged, and keyed his COM unit.

"Kowalski?" He asked. There was no response, just static. Their initial COM equipment was destroyed in the crash of the lifeboat, they only had fifty meter ranged boxes. Rae slowly moved around the corner, his light raised. Jack followed, just poking his head around.

"Son of a bitch…" He cursed.


	3. Intuition

Kowalski was on the ground, his face towards them, blood covering it. His weapon was lying on the ground next to him. The corpse Rae had seen was kneeling over Kowalski. Its flesh was hanging off, and looked like it was rotting. Its overall form was human, but a human that had been chucked in the ground, buried, and dug up two weeks later. One piece of flesh was so damaged, its right kidney was literally hanging out, trailing on the floor behind it. It was bent over, its head on…or rather _in_ Kowalski's chest. It was making loud crunching noises, and the tearing of more flesh. Rae raised his rifle, and aimed at the creature.

"Don't fucking move." He growled. The creature stopped _eating_ Kowalski, and slowly turned around.

"God in heaven." Jack whispered. The creatures face was horribly mangled, like someone had attacked I with a hammer. Its left eye was hanging out, dangling around. Its distorted moth was covered in blood, a piece of meat stuck in its razor sharp teeth. It hobbled forward on broken ankles.

"Don't move or I will blow your…head…off." Rae ordered. The creature didn't stop.

"Don't say I didn't warn you when we meet in hell." Sergeant Rae pulled the trigger, and bullets spat out from the MA5B, and tore into its head. Brains and skull were displayed on the wall and ground behind it, the creature itself falling to the ground. The other soldiers all moved around the corner, weapons raised at the ready.

"What the hell is that?" Chuck MacGilly asked, one hand holding the rocket launcher, the other holding a pistol.

"I don't know, but it's dead now." Rae said, turning around. Before anyone could say anything, Jack raised his pistol and fired. Everyone looked around, and saw the creature on its feet, standing with no head. One of the Marines stepped forward, pumped a round into his M90 Shotgun, and fired. The things chest exploded, dark brown blood, the same colour as the mist around them, was blown outwards, covering a large area in front of it. The soldier stepped forward, pumped the shotgun, and fired another round into its chest.

"Now it's dead." He said, spitting on the corpses' corpse.

"Good work, Jones." Rae said, his hands shaking slightly. Only Jack noticed it, who had looked away from the two bullet holes in the wall just over where the creatures shoulder had been. Chuck put the launcher against the wall, next to the corridor entrance, and walked over to the edge over looking a large cavern, extending down further than his light allowed him to see. He unzipped his fly and attended to his business.

"Private, what are you doing?" Rae asked, seeing this.

"Taking a leak, sir." He replied. Rae laughed a bit.

"Take your time." He said.

"We'll break here for a while." Everyone slowly lowered their weapons, and placed them on the ground.

"You okay?" Adam asked Jack.

"Yeah, a bit." He replied slowly.

"Have you got ay family back anywhere?" Adam asked, leaning against the wall and pulling out a cigarette from his pocket, and a match. He lit it and took one in. He opened his mouth and let the smoke slowly drift out, taking the form of something in water, instead of formless smoke.

"Yeah, I got a wife and two daughters." He said.

"No shit?" Adam looked surprised.

"Three and five." Jack said.

"I don't have a picture on me right now. In fact, it's probably back on the _Autumn_. What about yourself?" Adam laughed.

"Never had a family, except for my brother, Connor. He died on one of the outer Colonies a few years ago." He explained. Jack looked into Adam's eyes, and saw no sadness, or anything.

"I'm…sorry." He said quietly.

"Don't be, I was glad. Bastard deserved everything he got. Killed both our parents when I was only five. He was fifteen at the time." Jack slowly looked around the room, seeing other Marines also lighting up. Jones, the one with the Shotgun, put his weapon on the ground, not far from Jack, and walked over to Chuck to go over the edge as well.

"Fucking stupid…" Adam muttered.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Going over the edge. God knows what's down there." He explained. Rae came up next to him.

"Not even God would know in this hell hole. In fact, he probably can't even see this place." He stated, taking the cigarette from Adam's mouth, and sticking it in his own lips. He blew three successive smoke rings. Jack looked over at Chuck and the man who had the shotgun. Chuck finished, nodded to the other Marine and walked off, moving for his rifle.

"Hey, you better have it." The other one called out to him, facing away from the edge. Jack _felt_ his face drain of all colour as he saw three long tentacles reach up in front of the man.

"Look out!" He yelled. The man turned back, his hands still guiding himself, and nearly screamed. He never finished, the tentacles wrapping around him and snapping his neck instantly. The ma was pulled forward over the edge, being used as leverage by a giant ball of flesh as it flew over the edge and stood where the man had been, his dead body fallen over the edge, probably splattered across a few meters of ground miles below. Jack raised his pistol, aimed and fired. The new creature was similar to the first one, brown, rotten flesh hanging off, organs hanging out, and an elite head at the top, pushed backwards, its neck protruding through skin, which was slowly peeling away.

The creature made a loud gurgling noise as the bullet ripped through it. Jack hit every shot, almost impossible to miss at the range he was at. All the other men raised their weapons and fired. The creature flew back over the edge, howling as it went down.

"Look out!" Adam yelled, firing down the corridor. More of the creatures were running up the corridor, running faster than anything Jack had ever seen.

"Fall back!" Rae yelled, seeing Chuck being grabbed and ripped apart by a creatures tentacles.

They were literally growing out from where the arm had once been. The creatures consisted of Human and Elite corpses, all mutated and rotting. The stench filled the room, and didn't improve as the men ran towards the entrance they had came through. Two more marines went down, as three creatures appeared from behind a wall, biting into the men's necks and devouring them. The men made it to the entrance, and there was no sign of anything ahead of them.

The last two marines went first, followed by Adam, Jack and Sergeant Rae. He fired a few shots behind him, screaming British profanity at the creatures chasing them. Without warning, the soldier at the front topped, floated off the ground rapidly, and was brought to the side, his head slamming into the wall. He repeated it four times, the back of his head being completely crumpled in. He was then thrown to the floor, not moving. The second marine stared at the body, and barely had time to register to the shimmer in front of him as his throat was slit, blood spraying forward. Blood sprayed onto an invisible arm, revealing a claw. It shook itself, clearing off the blood.

"Camouflaged Elites!" Adam yelled, firing his gun forward. He was rewarded with the sound of bullets hitting shields, then penetrating through. A white Elite then appeared, falling to the ground riddled with bullet. Jack felt something push past him, moving with incredible speed.

He looked back, saw Rae being pushed to the side, and saw the creatures behind them slam into something, an invisible wall. But the wall was bending, in and out of the light. The Elite's camouflage gear was hit, and was fully revealed. It snarled and snapped at one of the human creatures heads, cracking it in two.

"Go!" Rae yelled, pushing forward. The three all ran the way they had entered the cave, hearing the fighting behind them. The Elite continued to snarl at the creatures, trying to push them back. One of the Elite creatures reached over with one claw, grabbed right two mandibles on the Elites mouth, and ripped them off. The elite reared back, screaming in pain, purple blood gushing out. It instantly reached down, and grabbed a blue ball, and ignited it. It stuck the ball to its chest, and two seconds later, just inches from being killed by a tentacle, the ball exploded, blue flames burning through the creatures.

Jack looked back and saw the flash of blue flame, and ran faster. They exited the corridor after a while, hearing the howling from the creatures behind them get closer.

"Sir, what do we do?" Adam asked. Rae looked around and could see a glow far ahead, the exit to the cave. But it was blocked by flashing lights, balls of energy flying in every direction, plasma grenades exploded, and all the while the howl of the creatures, killing Covenant, who were standing in the middle of a war they couldn't win. The two Marines and one engineer looked at the battle ahead, the howling behind them getting ever closer.

"We're not getting out of this one." Rae muttered quietly, lowering his rifle.

"You're going to give up?" Jack stared at him, knowing of Rae's reputation at not giving up. It was rumoured that Rae had once been childhood friends with the legendary Sergeant Johnson. They looked back and saw the creatures in the distance, getting closer. The creatures had won the battle at the entrance of the cave, and were running towards them.

"Great, we get to die at the hands of zombies," Adam muttered.

"But at least we won't go out without a fight." He reloaded his rifle, and racked a round into the chamber.

"Now would be a good idea to whatever God you worship." Rae muttered, getting to his knees. Jack looked around, his pistol swaying from side to side, not praying since he wasn't a religious man. Adam was standing, raised rifle, eyes moving, lips also moving, whispering a prayer. Jack heard the words 'Buddha' and 'Nirvana' mentioned a few times. Rae however, wasn't whispering.

"…When I vest my flashing sword, and my hand takes hold in judgment, I will take vengeance upon mine enemies, and I will repay those who haze me. Oh Lord, raise me to Thy right hand and count me among Thy saints." Rae slowly opened his eyes, each one filled with hatred that challenged anything. He got to his feet, and slowly reloaded his rifle, racked in a round and aimed at the closest creature coming up the corridor. Jack and Adam turned and faced the ones coming from the entrance of the cave.

"Fire at will!" Rae screamed. The three opened fire, and poured bullets down upon the creatures running towards them. One of them leapt into the air, very high. Jack traced it in the air, ad fired, the round penetrating its chest. The Creature fell to the ground with cracking of bones, and didn't get back up. Then a new form appeared amongst the creatures.

Small bulbous pods, moving on really small tentacles. They rolled ad bounced towards them. And then more appeared, large ones similar to the other new ones, but they only had two legs. Adam fired at one, and it exploded.

"Hell yeah!" He yelled, but stopped when he saw four pods fly out of the explosion, and start heading straight towards him. The firepower was slowing down the creatures, but they were still getting closer, albeit a lot slower than if hey weren't being fired upon. Jack reached over, grabbed a grenade from Adams belt, popped the pin and threw it at the creatures.

One of the human creatures had its mouth open, and the grenade slammed right in, cracking three teeth. The creature fell backwards from the force of the throw, and exploded. Fire engulfed a few creatures, and threw a few more in random directions, one slamming into Adam, knocking him down.

"Son of a bitch!" Adam screamed. One of the creatures leapt forward and onto Adam, it used its tentacle and snapped his neck. Jacks eyes widened, and his heart pulsed twice as fast. He suddenly spun around, and wrapped one arm around the creatures' neck, and twisted. Its head popped off from the lack of flesh and bone. Jack then moved and shot the thing in the back, through the chest.

He turned back and emptied is clip into creatures. He reloaded, aimed and was knocked down by one of the small pods. He looked back and saw Rae empty his rifle, reach for another clip and realise there was nothing there. He threw his rifle down the corridor, and then charged after it, going beyond Jacks vision. He could hear Rae screaming in pure rage, then pain, then silence.

Jack looked up and screamed as he saw one of the pods above him, a spike on the end of a tentacle and aiming it towards him. He gagged as the spike was rammed into his mouth, ad down his throat. He moved his hand, and aimed the pistol at his head. _Like hell I'll let this piece of shit kill me_, he thought.

He was about to pull the trigger when he felt something slam down onto his hand. He tried to scream in pain as another creature grabbed at his hand, and ripped the pistol away from him.

"No!" He managed to form the word, through the blood that was filling his throat and lungs. Slowly, he felt the pod move forward, and fit inside his mouth, tearing his jaw almost completely off, and then down his throat. The last thing Jack saw was a mental picture of his wife and kids, then nothing.

End


End file.
